Poems

Forgiveness

for Dad
I’m writing you
10 years later
& 2,000 miles
Away from
Our silence
My mouth a cave
That had collapsed
I’m writing
While you
You wear the
Hospital gown &
count failures
Such as the body’s
Inability to rise
I see your fingers
Fumbling in the
Pillbox as if
Earthquakes are in
Your hands
I think it’s time
For us to abandon
Our cruelties
For us to speak
So s o f t
We’re barely
Human.

About This Poem

“This poem was written after Eduardo C. Corral's ‘To a Straight Man.’ Corral tends to write in shorter lines and with strong images that flip almost spontaneously, in accordance with the emotional energy of his poems. In this poem I attempted to copy Corral's form and technique because it feels so much different than what I am accustomed to writing. I usually feel most comfortable with longer lines that are rhetorically or politically centered. This poem was a new writing experiment for me.”

—Christopher Soto

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all the forbidden fruit I ever
dreamt of--or was taught to
resist and fear--ripens and
blossoms under the palms of my
hands as they uncover and explore
you--and in the most secret
corners of my heart as it discovers
and adores you--the forbidden fruit
of forgiveness--the forbidden fruit
of finally feeling the happiness
you were afraid you didn't deserve--
the forbidden fruit of my life's labor
--the just payment I have avoided
since my father taught me how--
the forbidden fruit of the secret
language of our survivors' souls as
they unfold each others secret
ballots--the ones where we voted
for our first secret desires to come
true--there's so much more
I want to say to you--but for
the first time in my life I'm at
a loss for words--because
(I understand at last)
I don't need them
to be heard by you.